Watch Clemson Tigers Coach’s Perfect Impression of Coaching Legend

Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney didn’t mind having a bit of fun at a former rival’s expense earlier this week.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and USC head coach Steve Spurrier meet at midfield before their matchup at William-Brice Stadium on Saturday, November 26, 2011. / MYKAL McELDOWNEY/The Greenville News, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

For several years, Clemson Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney was locked in a yearly battle with former South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier during their annual rivalry game.

But, that doesn’t mean things were tense between Swinney and Spurrier, the latter a College Football Hall of Famer.

In fact, 10 years ago, Spurrier called Swinney after both suffered opening-weekend losses to Top 25 teams.

Back in 2014, Clemson faced Georgia and lost, 45-21. The Tigers still went on to win 10 games. South Carolina was at home in an SEC opener against Texas A&M and fell, 52-28. The Gamecocks finished 7-6.

Swinney recalled the conversation during a media session earlier this week as the No. 14 Tigers were preparing to face the No. 1 Bulldogs in Atlanta on Saturday. He doesn’t need to lean on memory, either. He said he still has the voicemail.

It's week 1 and we've already gotten a vintage Dabo Swinney impression of Steve Spurrier on openers pic.twitter.com/L1IMSzcLCN

— Marc Whiteman (@MarcWYFFNews4) August 27, 2024

After they played a bit of phone tag, the pair talked for a bit, with Spurrier lamenting that both teams had tough games to start the season. As Swinney related the story, he launched into a near spot-on impression of Spurrier’s voice, prompting laughter from the media.

“I don't know why we schedule these games,” Spurrier said to Swinney. “I tell you I just don't know. We go play a team over here down the road, they'll get a little win, everybody's happy, (we) get (to) work out some of them problems because you know there’s gonna be some problems. Yeah I don't know why we schedule these games like this right out of the gate.”

One doesn’t need much imagination to believe that’s something Spurrier might say.

But, Swinney said, the legend wasn’t done, as he assessed both team’s performances from the first week.

“It looked like y'all got your *** kicked for one quarter, and we got ours kicked for four quarters,” Spurrier said. “But hey, I just wanted to tell you to keep your head up. (It’s) a long season ahead we'll keep we'll keep moving.”

Swinney called it “classic Spurrier.” And he’s correct.

As a player, Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy at Florida in 1966. He eventually became a coach in the USFL and in college football, where he rose to prominence after taking over his alma mater in the 1990s. He led the Gators to 122 wins, six SEC titles and a national championship before moving to Washington in the NFL.

He joined South Carolina after Washington fired him and he rebuilt the Gamecocks, winning 86 games and a 2010 SEC East Division title. As a college coach he was 228-89-2 for his career after retiring in 2015.

Swinney is crafting his own hall-of-fame career. He has a 170-43 record entering 2024 with eight ACC titles and two other national title game appearances, to go along with the two national titles he won in 2016 and 2018.